6 minute read
Embedding intelligence in pumps
In the wake of COP26, Chris Callander spoke to Wayne Rose, Product Experience Director at Armstrong Fluid Technology, about pump technology's role in improving the sustainability of building stock in the UK.
There is significant potential for energy savings to be made in commercial property and large public sector buildings, particularly in HVAC systems. However, the technology used in buildings needs to support the collection and delivery of the data necessary to make informed decisions that optimise energy efficiency. So I started by asking Wayne how pumping technology needs to be developed.
flow: How will pump technology need to evolve to meet changing customer requirements?
Wanye Rose: The pressure placed on energy efficiency in commercial properties and large public sector buildings such as hospitals, local and national government office buildings, and educational sites is set to intensify. The level of reporting required by the government will almost certainly increase exponentially, to provide the benchmarking essential for all forms of environmental improvement. The key priority is the usability of the efficiency and performance data, rather than quantity. Building owners can already collect raw data from meters and dataloggers and often have a Building Management System (BMS) that makes collection easy. What these owners really need, however, is information on system performance that can be acted upon immediately, without endless hours of number crunching.
Pump technology will play a crucial role in translating raw data, on the performance of disparate components of the system, into usable intelligence that can form the basis of an action plan. The pumps have always served as the heart of a HVAC system, and with the latest technology, they can also function as the brain.
Active Performance Management technology for pump systems is expected to become the rule rather than the exception in commercial properties, tall buildings and large public sector sites. This essentially makes the performance of a HVAC system visible in real-time, on a 24/7 basis, with complete remote monitoring capability.
Without information on fluid flow, across the system, it’s difficult to diagnose and optimise efficiency. With accurate flow information, the picture changes entirely. This level of visibility of system performance integrates with the BMS, but goes one step further, providing an additional layer of reliable information on which estate managers and building owners can base their decisions.
For example, Armstrong’s Active Performance Management solution, Pump Manager, uses the embedded intelligence and connectivity of our Design Envelope pump models to provide performance reports to system operators. With this report information, operators can make changes and address issues to optimise HVAC performance. The reports provide online trending and analysis across multiple parameters on single pumps or on an aggregated basis for multiple pumps. This helps to identify performance degradation and facilitates a predictive and proactive approach. Pump Manager will, for example, report issues such as excessive vibration, pump-in-hand, risk of cavitation or dead-head should they occur. Reporting options include:
• Average flow profile over time
• Average energy consumption profile
• Current operation conditions relative to design conditions
• Flow and head relationships
• Three-dimensional pump vibration
• Carbon footprint report
Recently Armstrong integrated Advanced Performance Management capabilities into every Design Envelope pump model. So every customer now has the option to employ this level of reporting if they need it. We have also developed a retrofit solution to upgrade pumps already in situ.
f: How can the government best support investment in more sustainable pump technology?
WR: Any financial incentive available to building owners and energy managers to assist in improving the environmental performance of their sites is, of course, both welcome and much needed. However, it would be good to see financial incentives aligned with the actual lifetime performance of the equipment, rather than just its theoretical efficiency at the time of installation. The complexity of HVAC systems at the larger end of the scale means that there are inevitable challenges when harnessing the full energy efficiency potential of the equipment installed.
Smart commissioning is key to this, along with HVAC technology capable of providing real-time alerts in advance of problems occurring with the equipment. In particular, it is essential to address performance drift, where the pump and other HVAC system components begin to stray away from the required operating conditions, resulting in energy wastage due to under-performance. In our experience, addressing performance drift can help owners regain energy efficiency savings of up to 40%.
All of the pump technology necessary to achieve these savings is readily available without the need for costly customisation or BMS programming. In fact, the Armstrong Pump Manager technology already mentioned carries out these tasks automatically, helping to reduce operating costs by providing continuous optimisation of pump performance. This also increases pump availability and reliability and reduces unexpected failures by providing early problem detection. An important point to consider is that performance drift can cause particular problems because it leads to noticeable changes in the comfort conditions of a building. It is common for occupants of a building to take matters into their own hands, making interventions such as opening windows or plugging in fans or heaters. If this occurs, energy efficiency gains are largely erased, and the estates team loses control. Proper control over the long-term optimisation of pump performance is crucial to prevent this all-too-human response. If government policy can focus on these elements of optimisation of energy efficiency over time, we will see tangible reductions in carbon emissions of UK building stock.
f: As we work towards zero carbon buildings, which emerging pump technologies do you expect to have the most impact in the future?
WR: In many ways, we have much to gain from the more widespread use of the technology already resident in today’s generation of pumps. But as we look to the future, there are some important developments on the horizon with the potential to fundamentally change the environmental performance of UK buildings.
Digital twin technology, for example, promises to drive down energy consumption by facilitating collaborative benchmarking and simulation of alternative HVAC system scenarios. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a mechanical component that serves as a real-time digital counterpart. Originated in the aerospace industry to improve physical model simulation of spacecraft, digital twinning offers immense potential for the HVAC sector. This approach will enable actual data on the environmental performance of buildings to be used to create a digital duplicate. This replica can then be used to help building owners, estates managers, pump manufacturers, consultants and others to understand, analyse, manipulate, and optimise systems. We will be able to learn from installations worldwide, and will be able to make far more accurate and effective design and operational decisions about systems, because we can simulate scenarios with actual building data rather than hypothetical parameters.
Although this sounds rather space-age, the first pump technologies harnessing digital twin capability are likely to be readily available during 2022.
